[3] Lula Ann Evans worked as a housekeeper on the estate of Charles L. Tiffany, a jeweler living in Irvington, New York.

Living with the white Tiffany family, Chinn was exposed to classical music and taught German and French.

[6] Despite not finishing high school due to poverty, Dr. Chinn took the entrance examination to Columbia Teachers College, matriculating in 1917.

[5] However, Chinn's love for music never died as she continued to teach piano lessons to younger children and worked as an accompanist to Paul Robeson for four years in the 1920's.

In February 1921, she was among the first group of women initiated into the Alpha Beta chapter of the sorority alongside Eslanda Goode Robeson.

Chinn proceeded to study medicine at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, becoming its first African-American woman graduate in 1926.

[8] While attending a reception at Columbia University in honor of a friend, Chinn collapsed and died on December 1, 1980, aged 84.